Moya calls for an emergency relief fund to help
fi nance death arrangements of COVID-19 victims
BY BILL PARRY
As a lifelong resident of
Corona, Councilman Francisco
Moya has watched as
his neighborhood has been
ravaged by the coronavirus,
along with Jackson Heights,
East Elmhurst and LeFrak
City which he currently represents.
Now, Moya is calling for the
immediate creation of an emergency
relief fund to help lowincome
families whose loved
ones have died from COVID-19
make death arrangements.
“One of the most heartbreaking
issues that constituents
are calling me about is
what to do when their loved
one dies suddenly and unexpectedly
from COVID-19 and
they don’t have the financial
resources to make arrangements,”
Moya said. “These
families have two options:
burial or cremation. For families
that can’t afford the $925
cremation expense, let alone
the cost of burial, where can
they turn? We need a government
solution. I’m calling on
the city to immediately create
an emergency relief fund
to help families cover the arrangements
of all New Yorkers,
regardless of immigration
status, who die from COVID-
19.”
Warmest wishes to
all who celebrate
Passover and Easter.
Stay healthy and safe.
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.8 COM | APRIL 10-APRIL 16, 2020
Moya has spent much of the
coronavirus emergency resupplying
Elmhurst Hospital with
personal protection equipment.
He is the former director
of Business Development
at the overwhelmed facility.
“When we say ‘we’re all
in this together,’ we mean
it,” Moya said. “That means
not abandoning our friends,
neighbors and fellow New
Yorkers in their time of grief
and need.”
The de Blasio administration
was busy debunking
reports that the city would
use park space for temporary
burials of COVOD-19 victims
and morgues and funeral
homes are currently at capacity.
Councilman Mark Levine,
the chair of the Health Committee,
sparked the reporting
tweeting that temporary internment
in parks for caskets
10 in a row would be dignified.
‘We are NOT currently
planning to use parks as a
burial ground,” de Blasio
Press Secretary Freddi Goldstein
clarified in a tweet. “We
are exploring using Hart Island
for temporary burials if
the need grows.”
For more than 150 years,
Hart Island has served as a
Potter’s Field where more
than a million indigent New
Yorkers and victims of the
AIDS epidemic were buried.
It lies in the western Long Island
Sound off the coast of the
Bronx just east of City Island.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
A paramedic takes a patient from an ambulance to an emergency arrival area at Elmhurst Hospital on
April 6. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Congresswoman
Grace Meng
Paid for and authorized by Grace for New York
The Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement
District and the Ridgewood Local
Development Corporation wish everyone a
Happy and Healthy Passover and Easter.
We thank everyone for supporting the Myrtle
Avenue BID businesses that have been
able to remain open. We extend special thanks to
the 104th precinct, medical professionals and all
during this uncertain time.
We look forward to serving you and resuming our
new programs and events. Thanks to the BID
street cleaning crew and the Horticultural Society
of NY for keeping Myrtle Avenue clean and our
plazas well tended.
Please check our website www.ridgewood-ny.com,
Facebook & Twitter for information about the BID
and latest updates.
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